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A STREET IN THE SUNN'i , BAHAMAS. 



MYRTIE MOSELEY 

AND HER FRIENDS. 


A STORY OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 


By the Author of “ The Story of 
Mollie Malone.” 


NEW YORK: 

Loizeaux Brothers, Bible Truth Depot, 
63 Fourth Avenue. ^ y 


) 





PRINTED AT 

THE BIBLE TRUTH PRESS, 63 FOURTH AVENUE, 
NEW YORK. 






3 


INTRODUCTION. 


incidents that go to make up the 
^ twelve chapters of this little book 
are substantially true, though it is not 
claimed that they all occurred just in the 
order and connection in which they have 
been related. Some such sort of fictitious 
connection must necessarily be resorted 
to, else the book would be merely a col- 
lection of short stories. To avoid giving 
personal offence, names of persons and 
places are also fictitious. But the charac- 
ters, conversations, descriptions etc. are, we 
believe, neither over-drawn, nor colored; 
but, as nearly as possible, true to life. 
They are largely the result of the writer’s 
personal experiences and observations du- 
ring a residence of more than two years in 
the Islands. 

We trust it may prove both instructive 
and interesting, and may the Good Shep- 
herd, who loves to gather the lambs in 
His arms, make it a blessing to many 
youthful hearts. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Glass Window. 

CHAPTER ir. 

Winter Visitors. 

CHAPTER III. 

Greycliffe. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Preaching at the Shipyard. 
CHAPTER V. 

Trials and Triumphs. 
CHAPTER VI. 

Margaret and her Dream. 
CHAPTER VIT. 

A Visit to the Board-School . 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Deadman’s Cay. 

CHAPTER IX. ’ 

The Children’s Meeting. 

CHAPTER X. 

Walks and Talks. 

CHAPTER XI. 

A Sail to Morgan’s Bluff. 

CHAF FER XII. 

Farewell to Greycliffe. 










7 


MYRTIE MOSELEY AND HER FRIENDS. 

A STORY OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Glass Window* 

'^HE morning of May 24th, 18 — , 
dawned, cloudless, and calm over 
the little town of Dunmore, in the Ba- 
hamas. The Bahama Islands belong to 
Great Britain and all loyal inhabitants 
of the colony are careful to observe May 
24th, as the birthday of their late be- 
loved queen. At the time of the opening 
of our story she was, of course, still liv- 
ing, and most of the inhabitants of Dun- 
more, especially the children, were up 
bright and early to celebrate the anni- 
versary of their sovereign’s birth. 


8 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


Many of my young readers will wish 
to know why the children, particularly, 
were up with the sun that bright May 
morning. I will tell you. Mr. Wood, the 
master of the board-school, had arranged 
a treat on that day for the scholars of 
the school and others. They were to 
take luncheon baskets and spend the day 
at a place some distance off called the 
“ Glass Window.” Now I know that all 
bright boys and girls are full of ques- 
tions, and if any of you ask me why it 
was called the Glass Window, I must 
confess I cannot tell. It is, or was 
rather (for it has since been broken 
down by a hurricane) a large hole that 
pierced a cliff of soft, coral limestone 
overlooking the sea. It resembled a 
window enough to merit the latter part 
of its name, but why it was ever called 
the Glass Window, I suppose nobody 


THE GLASS WINDOW. 


9 


knows. Even the windows of most of 
the houses of Dunmore (like nearly all in 
the Bahamas) have no glass in them. 
“Mermaid’s Window” or some such 
poetic name would have been much 
more appropriate and less common- 
place. But we must leave the good 
people of the Bahamas to answer their 
own questions as to the why and 
wherefore of the origin of this and 
other seemingly meaningless names per- 
taining to their sunny archipelago, and 
go on with our story. 

Some of the boys were a little disap- 
pointed when they wakened to find it 
calm (“glass calm” the Bahamian sail- 
ors say) as the Glass Window was on 
an island some distance off and had to 
be reached in sail-boats. But a slight 
breeze sprang up as the sun rose, and the 
children were soon sailing merrily over 


10 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


the bay. On reaching the place of land- 
ing, they took their baskets, books, and 
other things, and were soon at the cliff. 
The Window looked toward the east 
and a delightful breeze called the “trade 
wind ” was blowing from that direction. 
There was no beach near, so the smaller 
children of the party could not build 
castles or forts in the sand, neither could 
the older boys go bathing. But they 
found other things to do and play at. 
Some lay or sat in the shade of the rocks 
and read the books they had brought 
with them. A number of girls wrought 
at their “Spanish work,” to be sold, if 
possible, to the American visitors at 
Nassau the coming winter. Quite a 
number of boys were fishing with hook 
and line at the dizzy edge of the cliff. 

So the first few hours of their outimr 
passed away very pleasantly. But the}^ 


THE GLASS WINDOW. 


11 


little dreamed how suddenly their play 
was to end, and their joy be turned to 
mourning. In the midst of their chat- 
ting and songs and laughter a cry of 
alarm was suddenly raised, “A tidal 
wave I Run for your lives I ” But alas, 
the warning came too late for some. 
The cry of terror was hardly uttered, 
when there was a deep roar and a 
“swish,” as a monster sea came rush- 
ing up the almost perpendicular face of 
the cliff, and rushed hissing through the 
Window in the wall. It broke and scat- 
tered and was gone almost as suddenly 
as it had appeared, and most of the chil- 
dren escaped with a spraying of brine. 
I say most. Three, sad to tell, were 
carried away by the wave as it fell back 
into the boiling sea. Two, a boy and 
girl, were never seen again. The other, 
a boy, was seen to be struggling in the 


12 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


water at the base of the cliff, and was 
with great difficulty rescued. 

The picnic was at an end, and how 
the kind master and the scholars wept 
as they returned that day to Dunmore I 

Among the sorrowing children was a 
slender, sunny-faced girl named Myrtie 
Moseley. She wept with the rest as she 
thought of the loss of the bodies of her 
playmates. But she thought of some- 
thing more. Though only a little past 
twelve, she was a serious child, and 
thought of the souls of her drowned 
companions. “Where would my soul 
be now, had I been taken?” she kept 
asking herself. And as she lay in her 
bed that night, she trembled as she 
thought on those solemn words of Jesus, 
“Fear Him, who after He hath killed 
hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say 
unto you. Fear Him” (Luke xii. 5). 


13 


CHAPTER 11. 

Winter Visitors* 

“ jp^E mail come, Miss Ellen.” 

The speaker was a stout, good- 
natured looking colored girl who gloried 
in the high-sounding name of Euphrasia 
Victoria, though nearly everybody called 
her Phrasia, for short. She had been 
brought up from a child by the Mose- 
leys, and at the date of our story was 
still living with them as a servant. The 
person whom she addressed as Miss El- 
len was not really a Miss at all but Mrs. 
Moseley, Myrtle’s mother. It is custom- 
ary in the Bahamas to continue calling 
women by their maiden -names after 
their marriage. Even grandmothers 


14 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


are, curiously enough, spoken of as 
“Miss Marion,” “Miss Janey,” etc. 

The day on which our chapter opens 
was the usual day for the arrival of the 
bi-weekly mail from Nassau, the capital 
and chief port of the colony. Steamers 
from New York bring the mails to this 
island -metropolis, from whence small 
schooners, subsidized by the government 
for the purpose, take them to the “ Out 
Islands,” as the surrounding islands are 
called. Having a mail but once a fort- 
night, the arrival of the mail-schooner is 
an event of some importance at the va- 
rious settlements at which they touch. 

“Has she brought many passengers, 
do you know, Phrasia?” asked Mrs. 
Moseley, in answer to the announcement 
of the mail’s arrival. 

“ Yes’m. I seed de school-masta. Mars 
Roberts, Mars'] Sands, Miss ^Lois, an’ a 


WINTER VISITORS. 


15 


lady an’ gemmen come from ’Merica, I 
hear de cap’n say.” 

“Yes? Winter visitors, I suppose. I 
wonder where they will stay. Do you 
know who took them ? ” 

“Nobody has taken us, madam, but 
Capt. Russell directed us to you. We 
were not aware on leaving Nassau that 
there were no regular hotels or board- 
ing houses on the Out Islands, and if 
you can give myself and wife a room or 
two in this fine, large house of yours we 
shall be very much obliged to you in- 
deed.” 

Mrs. Moseley turned abruptly at this 
unexpected answer to her question and 
found herself face to face with a young, 
refined looking, well-dressed gentleman 
and lady. Behind them stood a troop 
of grinning colored boys and men with 
trunks, valises, boxes, and other bag- 


16 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


gage in their hands, or balanced on their 
heads. These answer the purpose of 
expressmen in the Out Islands where 
horses and wagons are unknown. 

Mrs. Moseley considered a few mo- 
ments before consenting to board the 
strangers. Her husband, Capt. Moseley, 
was away on a voyage to Savannah 
with a cargo of oranges, and she did not 
know whether he would care to have 
his comfortable home turned into a 
boarding house. She told them of this, 
but finally said, “I will take you until 
my husband’s return, when, if he is not 
satisfied you can easily find another 
place.” 

The strangers thanked her warmly 
and gave their names as Mr. and Mrs. 
Grant of Oswego, N. Y. Two large, airy 
rooms on the second floor were put at 
their disposal and when the baggage was 


WINTER VISITORS. 


17 


all brought up, Mr. Grant prepared to 
pay off the men and boys. Turning to 
the two bare-foot, coatless men who 
had brought the trunks from the wharf, 
he said, “ Well, how much do I owe you 
each?” “Sixpence, sah,”was the reply. 
“ How much is that ? ” asked Mr. Grant, 
who was not used to English pounds 
and pence. “Da’ sixpence, sah.” “Do 
you mean twelve cents ? ” “ Yes’r.” 

“ Now Elijah,” broke in a girlish voice, 
“you know you do not mean twelve 
cents at all. Six cents is all you ever get 
for carrying a trunk, and, Mr. Grant, 
don’t you pay them any more than six 
cents each, and the boys two cents. 
That is quite enough.” 

Myrtie Moseley was the speaker. She 
had heard the conversation from the 
hall- way and as Mr. and Mrs. Grant 
were now guests of the family, she felt it 


18 


MYRTIE MOvSELEY. 


her duty to interpose. Elijah and his 
companion Jacob did not seem at all 
offended or ashamed, but took each 
their three-pence sterling with a bow 
and a “Tank e sah,” and silently retired. 
The boys received each their English 
penny with a broad grin and rushed to 
the street to invest it in sugar-cane, co- 
coanut-cake, or some other kind of sweet 
for which their stomachs were at that 
time craving. 

Wlien they were gone Myrtie explained 
to the Americans the confusion existing 
in the colony relative to the English and 
United States money in use. “Having 
so much intercourse with the United 
States,’’ she said, “we have a good deal 
of their gold and bills in circulation a- 
mong us. We have no coinage of our 
own, but use the English money. This 
is mostly the ha’ penny, worth one cent 


WINTER VISITORvS. 


19 


American money ; the penny, two cents ; 
the silver threepence, (pronounced here, 
threppence, ) which is six cents ; sixpence, 
twelve cents; the shilling piece, worth 
twenty -four cents ; and the two shilling 
piece, which is forty-eight cents. But 
most of the colored people, of whom a- 
bout ninety per cent of the population 
of our colony is composed, scarcely ever 
say penny, or half-penny. For ha-penny, 
they say small copper, and a penny, 
big copper. Sixpence is always six cents, 
and a shilling is twelve cents. A shilling 
is called a ‘quarter,’ and two shillings 
fifty cents. The more intelligent people 
always say ‘shilling currency,’ when 
they mean twelve cents, and ‘shilling 
sterling,^ when they mean twenty -four 
cents. Four shillings sterling is called a 
‘ short ’ dollar. An American dollar bill 
is called a ‘ long ’ dollar and a five dollar 


20 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


gold piece, five long dollars. Five short 
dollars would be one pound sterling or 
480 cents. It is very confusing to stran- 
gers and bow it came to be in such a 
muddle I can hardly understand.” 

“ Thank you,” said Mr. Grant, in reply 
to Myrtle’s clever explanation, “I am 
sure what you have told us will be of 
much use to us in the future. But I feel 
sorry to think that Elijah, who has 
such a good Scripture name, should be 
so ready to take advantage of our 
ignorance.” 

“ Oh, that is quite common with him,” 
said Myrtle. “It seems impossible for 
some of them to keep from telling stories 
and pilfering. They are good-natured 
and easy to get along with but very few 
of them can be trusted.” 

“No, nor anybody, but for the grace 
of God,” said Mr. Grant. Here the con- 


WINTER VISITORS. 


21 


versation was interrupted by the en- 
trance of Euphrasia with water and 
towels for the visitors, and Myrtie re- 
tired. But Mr. Grant’s last words struck 
her forcibly. She could not help thinking 
of them as she went to her music lesson 
and she was pleased to think that the 
strangers were probably true Christians, 
who might, under God, be a means of 
blessing to her soul. Eight months had 
passed since the terrible tragedy at the 
Glass Window and the solemn impres- 
sion made upon Myrtie Moseley’s mind 
had not yet worn away. Her convic- 
tions deepened, rather, as time went by^ 
and at the time of Mr. and Mrs. Grant’s 
arrival at Dunmore she was more anx- 
ious concerning her soul’s salvation 
than she had ever been before. Myrtie, 
as yet, knew not that peace He gives, 
who said, “ Come unto Me, all ye that 


22 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest.” 

But “God is light,” and conviction 
must ever precede conversion. 


23 


CHAPTER III. 

Greycliffc* 

jYJ^YRTIE Moseley’s home, at which 
the visitors found themselves so 
comfortably established, was a typical 
better-class Bahamian residence. It was 
a large, square, two-story structure 
built of native, coral limestone. The 
friable nature of this stone makes it ne- 
cessary to plaster over its outside face 
with a coating of cement, which is in 
turn usually given a coating of a kind of 
tinted kalsomine. The tints are usually 
very faint and of various shades, some- 
times blue, sometimes yellow, and often 
pink. The Moseley’s house was of a de- 
licate gray stain, hence its pretty name, 


24 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


“ GreyclifFe.” Broad verandahs ran a- 
long three of its sides, both up and down 
stairs. It faced the sea on its eastern 
side, and the view of the curving sandy 
beach, the white breakers foaming and 
frothing over the coral reef, and the 
broad blue ocean beyond, was most 
charming. The numerous large win- 
dows were provided with close, stout, 
wooden shutters, painted a deep green. 
These shutters are a necessity through- 
out all the West Indian islands, owing 
to the hurricanes which frequently rise 
and rage about those latitudes. Behind 
the house stood a small, disconnected 
building used as a cook-house. The 
cooking was not done on a stove as in 
the North, but over an open hre burning 
on a kind of stone platform, something 
like a blacksmith’s forge. The baking 
was done in a dome-shaped oven, stand- 







GREYCLIFFE. 


25 


ing by itself near by, resembling very 
much the old-fashioned bee-hives, seen 
now only in pictures. Beautiful red, 
white, and yellow roses covered nearly 
the whole rearside of the house, where 
there was no verandah. Roses bloom 
the year round in the Bahamas, (the 
month of May excepted) and this west- 
ern wall of GreyclilFe was nearly always 
radiant with buds and blossoms. Sur- 
rounding the house was a spacious gar- 
den (called a “yard” here) in which grew 
cocoanut palms, poncianas, southern 
cedars, and almond -trees, besides or- 
anges, lemons, limes, guavas, and vari- 
ous other tropical and sub-tropical 
fruits. Around the whole, on three 
sides, ran a high stone wall, tinted a 
faint yellow. A low limestone cliif 
bounded the garden on its sea side, 
making a wall there unnecessary. 


26 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


The gate, hung on two large pillars of 
masonry, was made of massive mahog- 
any, two-leaved, and very high, the top 
shaped very much like an inverted Goth- 
ic arch. “ Greycliffe’’ was painted 
in black on the right-hand pillar. At the 
front door of the house, on a tiny shelf, 
stood a little tea-bell, which answers 
here, as everywhere throughout the 
islands, as a door-bell. Inside the house 
the rooms were all large and airy, and 
the appointments in every way suited to 
a country enjoying the year round a 
semi-tropical climate. 

Mr. and Mrs. Grant were delighted 
with everything they saw. Myrtie tried 
to explain everything to them the first 
morning of their stay. Though quiet, 
she was not a shy girl, and she and her 
mother’s guests were soon like old famil- 
iar friends. Mrs. Grant told her that 


GREYCLIFFE. 


27 


they had come to the Bahamas for her 
health, as she could not stand the severe, 
chilling winds that blew over the lake 
during the winter at their home in Os- 
wego. Her husband was a mill owner, 
but had left the management of his busi- 
ness to a competent superintendent, so 
as to accompany his wife. 

They breakfasted at nine and dined at 
three. Myrtie’s school (a private one 
kept by the Wesleyan minister’s wife) 
commenced like the board, or public 
school, at ten, and let out at two, which 
is quite long enough anywhere within 
the tropics. She explained to Mr. Grant, 
how, owing to the mixture of white 
and colored in the board-schools, all 
who could afford it sent their children, 
especially daughters, to the separate 
private schools. They, like the board- 
schools, had only a month’s summer 


28 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


vacation, she said, which was in August. 

After dinner, as it grew cooler, Mr. 
Grant proposed a walk about the town, 
to “have a look,” as he said. Myrtie 
offered to act as guide to them, and to- 
gether they started out. Myrtie noticed 
Mr. Grant’s pockets stuffed out with 
papers of some kind, and was wonder- 
ing at it, when they stopped at a little 
building, not much bigger than a large 
dry-goods box, in which an old colored 
woman “kept shop.” Here Mr. Grant 
purchased a few sappodillas, and handed 
the old woman one of his papers, saying, 
“Wont you have a tract telling of the 
Lord Jesus and His death for sinners?” 
At once old Francena (for such was her 
name) clasped her hands as if in adora- 
tion, and rolling her large dark eyes to- 
wards heaven, said fervently, “Bress de 
Lawd, yes, marsa.” 


GREYCLIFFE. 


29 


“Are you saved?” asked Mr. Grant. 

“I’s figktin’ ha’d. sah.” 

“ Oh, but that is not the way. Scrip- 
ture says it is ‘not of works lest any 
man should boast.’ ” 

“ Yes, marsa, I reads de Bible ; T prays , 
I ’ten’s chapel ; I dream one night I see’d 
de ” 

“Never mind what you have done or 
dreamed,” interrupted Mr. Grant, who 
saw that Francena was getting excited, 
making energetic gestures and ready to 
say a half dozen words to his one. 
“What Christ has done is what saves 
us. Read this little paper carefully, and 
some day I will come round and give 
you another.” 

“Yes, marsa.” 

They left her slowdy spelling off aloud 
the title of the tract, “What did Jesus 

COME TO DO ? ” 


30 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


As they passed down the street, Mr. 
Grant thought they could not have at- 
tracted more attention had they been 
Bamum’s circus processsion. They were 
viewed from doors, windows, gateways, 
over walls, and where not. Old men 
ducked their heads courteously as they 
met the “white folks,” and grabbed 
their hats or caps off their woolly heads. 
The younger ones were less polite. Whis- 
pered remarks and questions were heard 
on every hand, and requests for “cop- 
pers” not infrequent. 

“You must not give too freely, Mr. 
Grant,” cautioned Myrtie, “few of them 
are in real need, and if it becomes known 
that you give coppers on the street, you 
will have no peace whenever 3^ou go out. 
They seem to think that every American 
visitor is a millionaire, who comes to 
the Bahamas purposely to give away 


GREYCLIFFE. 


31 


coppers. If you wish to help the really 
needy ones, I will take you any time to 
their houses. That will be the better 
way.” 

“Thank you,” said Mr. Grant. “I 
see already that your advice is good. 
Can you read, my man ? ” 

“Yaas sah, some tingy (tiny) bit, sah.” 

“Very well, here is a little paper tell- 
ing how to be saved for nothing.” 

“ Tank e, sah. You minista, sah ? ” 

“Oh no, but I am saved. How is it 
with you ? ” 

“ Oh, I all right, sah. I locust preach- 
er” (local preacher). 

“Yes? But that will not give you 
any title to heaven.” 

“I tryin’ ha’d sah. De Bible say de 
Lawd help dem wot help demselbes. I 
been memba mos’ forty yea’, sah,” 

“It is not trying, but trusting^ that 


32 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


saves. And the Bible does not say, 

‘ The Lord helps those who help them- 
selves.’ ” 

“ De Bible no say dat ? Wha’ de Bible 
say den? ” 

“The Bible says, ‘But to him that 
worketh not, but belie veth on Him 
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is 
counted for righteousness.” 

Quite a crowd had collected by this 
time. The “locust” preacher evidently 
did not care to display his ignorance to 
Mr. Grant in the presence of his fellow- 
townsmen, so all listened attentively, 
while Mr. Grant told them in simple 
words of God’s only way of salvation 
through Christ. There were frequent 
nods and exclamations of approval, and 
as our three friends resumed their walk 
some of the crowd followed them, hop- 
ing to hear more “religion talk” from 


GREYCLIFFE. 


33 


the stranger. What seemed to amaze 
them most was that he should not be a 
“minista.” That a man not a minister 
should be able to talk and quote Scrip- 
ture as he did seemed almost a miracle 
to them. 

The visitors and their young guide re- 
turned to Greycliffe just as the great red 
sun was setting in the western sea. Af- 
ter an eight-o’clock tea, they sat on the 
veranda until ten, when after prayers, 
led by Mr. Grant, they retired to rest. 

So ended the Grants’ first day at 
Greycliffe. 


34 


CHAPTER lY. 


The Preaching in the Shipyard* 


“ 'Y^HERE, about town, would be a 
good place to have an open-air 
meeting this coming Lord’s Day, Mrs. 
Moseley ? ” asked Mr. Grant a few days 
after the events of our last chapter. 

“Well, I don’t know,” answered Mrs. 
Moseley : “ why don’t you ask for one of 
the chapels ? ” 

“Because, among other reasons, I wish 
to reach as many as possible. There are 
three denominations here, I learn, and if 
I preach in any one of their buildings, 
the others would not likely attend. So 
I think it will be best to have the meet- 


THE PREACHING IN THE SHIPYARD. 35 

ing somewhere in the open-air, where all 
may feel free to come and hear.” 

“ Well, let me see now,” said Mrs. Mo- 
seley, thoughtfully. 

“I know Mama,” broke in Myrtie,who 
had been listening to the conversation, 
“the shipyard up yonder will be just 
the place. Don’t you remember, I point- 
ed it out to you in our walk the other 
day, Mr. Grant? There is a fine large 
fig-tree there for shade. I think it will 
be just the place.” 

“I recollect it; you told me it was a 
general lounging place for the white 
men of the town. But why do you call 
it up yonder? I should call it down. Is 
it not at the southern end of the town ?” 

“Yes, but that is one of our curious 
customs here in the Bahamas. All the 
Americans speak of it. East and south 
are always ^up’ with us. We always 


36 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


say ‘up east,’ never ‘down east,’ as you 
do in the States. Points to the north of 
us, within the colony, are always spoken 
of as ‘down.’ ” 

“It does sound a little strange,” re- 
plied Mr. Grant, “but up or down, I 
think, as you say, the shipyard will be 
a suitable place. Now what hour in the 
afternoon will be most suitable or con- 
venient ? ’ ’ 

“I think about four o’clock,” said 
Mrs. Moseley. 

So it was arranged to have a meeting 
“up yonder” in the shipyard on Lord’s 
Day, at four in the afternoon. It soon 
became generally known over Dunmore, 
and at the appointed hour a large crowd 
had collected at the spot. Many who 
lived close by brought chairs. Some 
made seats of soap and biscuit boxes, 
borrowed from a shop-keeper in the 



THE SHIPYARD 






f 



THE PREACHING IN THE SHIPYARD. 37 

neighborhood. Others seated them- 
selves in a row on the prostrate trunk 
of a cocoanut-tree blown down during 
the last hurricane. Another long row 
established themselves on an old spar. A 
good many of the men, black and white, 
reclined on the grass beneath the fig-tree, 
while a few ensconced themselves in the 
boats drawn up on the beach. A good 
proportion of the company stood, some 
close to the preacher’s selected stand, 
and others, more shy or less interested, 
*^afar off.” Myrtie was there with a 
number of her girl friends. As they were 
singing the opening hymns Mr. Grant 
noticed Elijah and Jacob in the crowd. 
Old Francena was also present with a 
big family Bible in her hands. The 
“locust” preacher too was there, only 
he took good care to keep about the 
margin of the crowd, as if he feared 


38 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


getting within too close range of the 
speaker. He noticed a few peeping over 
walls or around corners. These were 
the Nicodemus hearers, who feared or 
felt ashamed to be found listening to a 
preacher not of their own denomina- 
tion. 

Nearly all present joined in the singing. 
Mr. Grant took care to use only old 
familiar tunes, though the words of the 
hymns were new to most. Colored men, 
who could not read a word, hardly, took 
hymn-sheets, and it was amusing to 
hear them rolling out a deep bass or 
shrill tenor to no other words (if words 
they can be called) than, “ ah ah, ah ah, 
ah ah, ah ah.” Words are of insignifi- 
cant importance to most of them, but of 
music they are passionately fond. 

The singing over, Mr. Grant, after a 
brief prayer, took his stand on a cast 


THE PREACHING IN THE SHIPYARD. 39 

off hatch and announced his text— Job 
xxxYi. 18, “Because there is wrath, be- 
ware, lest He take thee away with His 
stroke : then a great ransom cannot de- 
liver thee.” He had selected his text in 
view of a sad accident that had recently 
occurred between Dunmore and a neigh- 
boring settlement. A man and his wife 
had been visiting at Dunmore, and, 
contrary to the advice of their friends, 
started for home in a small, open boat. 
They had to pass a dangerous point on 
their way, and a heavy sea (called here a 
“rage”) was on. A great wave filled 
the boat with water and it immediately 
sank. The man succeeded in saving 
himself, but his poor wife was never 
afterwards seen. The boat’s mast was 
found a few days later and, entangled in 
its pulley blocks, was a portion of the 
drowned woman’s hair. This sad oc- 


40 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


currence had cast a solemn gloom over 
the inhabitants of Dunmore and Mr. 
Grant thought it well to take advan- 
tage of the then thoughtful state of the 
community. 

. He said, in beginning, “ We have three 
things in our text I wish to notice ; the 
actual, the probable, and the impossible. 
The actual, ‘There is wrath;’ the prob- 
able, ‘ lest He take thee away with His 
stroke;’ the impossible, ‘then a great 
ransom cannot deliver thee.’” He 
proved, first of all, from Scripture, that 
God, being holy in His nature, must 
hate sin. He showed from John iii. 36, 
that the “wrath of God,” was ever hang- 
ing over the unbeliever’s sinful head, like 
a big, black thunder-cloud, and ready at 
any moment to burst and deluge him in 
destruction. He quoted Rom. i. 18, to 
show that the “wrath of God ” was “re- 


THE PREACHING IN THE SHIPYARD. 41 

vealed from heaven against all ungodli- 
ness and unrighteousness of men, who 
hold the truth in unrighteousness ; ” and 
from Rom. ix. 22, he proved that though 
the wicked sometimes appeared to live 
and prosper, it is with “much long-suf- 
fering’’ that God endures these “vessels 
of wrath, fitted (by their sins) to de- 
struction.” 

In taking up his second point, the 
probable, he dwelt at some length on 
the uncertainty of life. To illustrate 
this, he related several incidents. “I 
once met a gentleman,” said he, “who 
had fought in the late American Civil 
War, on the Confederate side. He told 
me how after they had once fought 
fiercely for three successive days, with- 
out either side gaining any decided ad- 
vantage, a truce was agreed upon. It 
was Sunday morning and both forces 


42 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


were nearly worn out. so it was mutual- 
ly agreed upon to rest on that day, and 
recommence hostilities the following 
morning. My informant retired with 
some of his comrades to a spring, about 
half a mile back from the firing line. After 
a drink around they washed their smoke 
begrimmed faces. One of the company 
then took out a pocket comb and mir- 
ror and commenced combing his hair. 
To see the better to part it, he inclined 
his head to one side, and almost instant- 
ly there was a loud report, and a piece 
of a shell cut open the exposed portion 
of the young soldier’s throat. He died 
in a few moments, his life’s blood dying 
crimson the recently crystal waters of 
the spring. 

“How secure he thought himself,” said 
Mr. Grant, “after fighting three days, 
unscathed, in the thick of the battle. 


THE PREACHING IN THE SHIPYARD. 43 

But we never know when our time is 
coming, and there, half a mile back from 
the firing line, when the enemy were sup- 
posed to be at least a mile away, by a 
shell exploded accidently, perhaps, God’s 
stroke took him away. I have heard of 
an old soldier, who had passed unhurt 
through many campaigns, dying at last 
by blood-poisoning, brought on by the 
tiny prick of a pin. An old sea-captain, 
too, who had retired after having weath- 
ered many a hurricane, was found one 
day drowned in his bath tub I ” He told 
too how, when in Nassau, a friend had 
told him of a young woman, who at- 
tended service one evening among the 
“ windward islands ” where he had been 
laboring, and on her way home dropped 
dead in her tracks, taken suddenly “a- 
way ” by God’s “ stroke.” “ Beware,” he 
said, looking solemnly in the direction 


44 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


of Myrtle, “lest He take thee away 
with His stroke.” 

She trembled as he spoke, and turned 
pale with suppressed emotion. The Spir- 
it of God was certainly working in her 
soul, and as Mr. Grant went on her agi- 
tation increased. He spoke of the “im- 
possible,” — impossibility of repentance 
or salvation after death, citing a num- 
ber of Scripture texts in proof. He 
dwelt with much feeling on the “ran- 
som,” even Jesus, “who gave Himself a 
ransom for all.” At the close he gave 
out the hymn, “Where wilt thou spend 
Eternity ? ” and after the singing and a 
few words of prayer, he “ dismissed the 
assembly.” 

As he passed through the crowd, shak- 
ing hands, and giving out tracts, he 
heard loud sobbing. It was Myrtie. 
She was giving way to the pent-up feel- 


THE PREACHING IN THE SHIPYARD. 45 

ings of Her bursting heart, and seemed 
oblivious of the awestruck, gaping crowd 
about her. A few rude white boys were 
making sport of her tears, but she did 
not heed them. Mrs. Grant hurried off 
to Greycliffe with her, and as soon as 
Mr. Grant arrived, he took her by him 
on the sofa, and Bible in hand sought 
to lead her thoughts from herself and 
her sins to Christ and His cross. He 
explained to her what a ransom meant. 
“Some Mohammedan brigands once,” 
he said, “took captive a lady mission- 
ary and then demanded a great sum of 
money for her ransom. I think it was 
$50,000. Her friends paid the sum of 
money and she was set at liberty. And,” 
he added, “ we were held captive by stern 
justice. We were completely in the 
power of Satan, but the Lord Jesus by 
His death at Calvary paid the ransom. 


46 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


He gave Himself and now all who be- 
lieve are free, ‘justified from all things.’ ” 
Light soon broke in upon her soul. She 
then and there received Christ as her Sa- 
viour, and together the little company 
fell upon their knees, while Mr. Grant 
thanked God for this, the first soul given 
him in the Bahama Islands. 

Others were deeply affected by the 
preaching. Many said it was the most 
solemn address they had ever listened 
to, and hoped soon to hear more. 

Truly “the word of God is quick and 
powerful” (Heb. iv. 12). 


47 


CHAPTER Y. 

Trials and Triumphs^ 

jY/jYRTIE’S conversion was evidently 
real. One proof of this was that 
she now loved to read the Bible, some- 
thing she had never done before. A new- 
born babe almost immediately wants 
milk, and the apostle Peter writing to 
believers says, “As new-born babes de- 
sire the sincere milk of the Word that ye 
may grow thereby.” Myrtie, the new- 
born babe in Christ, felt this desire, and 
Mrs. Grant helped her very much in the 
undertanding of certain passages. 

Another evidence of the reality of her 
conversion was that she no longer cared 


48 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


for worldly dress or company. Her kind 
mother allowed her to modify her dress 
to what Myrtie thought was consistent 
with her profession. In this also Mrs. 
Grant was of great help to her, in decid- 
ing what to retain and what to lay 
aside. But her aunt Cecelia, who was a 
very worldly woman, tried hard to per- 
suade her to continue wearing her form- 
er finery, and it was a real trial to Myr- 
tie to be compelled to resist her, for she 
loved her aunt and did not wish to dis- 
please her. But she loved and feared 
God more, and stood firm in her resolu 
tion to dress simply, according to the 
Word of God (See 1 Tim.ii. 9, 10; 1 Pet. 
iii. 3—6). 

At the time of her conversion she was 
preparing to take part in a worldly 
church entertainment. She told the pro- 
moter that she could not any longer go 


TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 


49 


on with the practice, but was only 
laughed at and called silly. But she was 
fully prepared to be laughed at and 
called a fool for Christ’s sake, and they 
soon found out she meant every word 
she said. Her conversion was the talk 
of the town. All sorts of opinions were 
expressed, and various predictions made. 
Some said it was all excitement. Others 
said Myrtie was always inclined to be 
“good,” while others still said it would 
soon all pass away and she would be 
herself again. 

Her uncles tried to tease her in a good- 
natured way, but she always had a 
ready answer for them. It seemed in- 
credible to them that a child of her age 
(she was just thirteen) should be such a 
decided Christian. One of them asked 
Mr. Grant what he thought about her, 
if he believed she really understood 


50 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


wliat she professed. “ I see no reason 
to doubt it,” he replied. “Out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings God or- 
dains praise, Scripture says. The child 
Samuel was probably converted at a 
much earlier age than she. Wait and 
see. If she is really ‘ born again ’ she 
will, no doubt, continue.” 

Mrs. Grant gave her a beautiful book 
called “Frances Grey’s Decision,” which 
encouraged her very much. She soon 
read it for herself and then started it 
circulating among her school-mates. 
One of these, named Elaine Moss, be- 
came much interested. After hearing 
Mr. Grant preach the second Sunday in 
the shipyard from the three scriptures, 
“Let us alone,” “Let it alone,” and 
“Let him alone” she went home bur- 
dened with a sense of her sin. She saw 
she had been all her life saying to the 


TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 


51 


Lord Jesus, “ Let us alone,” and like the 
barren fig-tree, useless to God and only 
a cumberer of His earth. And when 
stem Justice said “Cut it down,” His 
mercy had said pleadingly, “Let it alone 
this year also, till I dung it and dig about 
it. If it bear fruit, well, and if not, then 
after that thou shalt cut it down.” And 
she feared that if she continued in her 
sins and worldly ways much longer re- 
sisting the strivings of God’s Spirit, He 
might say some day, “ Let her alone.” 
She knew that she must then die with- 
out hope. 

That night she could not sleep. She 
rolled and tossed restlessly upon her bed. 
Her mother, hearing her sobs, came to 
her and tried to comfort her, but as she 
was herself unconverted, or, if a Chris- 
tian, a very careless one, she could not 
help her. At last, morning came, but 


52 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


with its light no spiritual light came to 
poor Elaine's convicted soul. She could 
eat no breakfast, and school was out of 
the question. She wanted eternal life, 
like Bunvan’s Pilgrim fleeing from the 
City of Destruction, and could set her 
mind on nothing else. Her distress 
alarmed her mother, and about midday 
she left the house to ask Mrs. Grant to 
come and speak with her daughter. 

When she had left the house, Elaine 
picked up a New Testament, hoping to 
find something in it to give her comfort. 
And comfort she found, and much more 
besides. She happened to read from the 
first epistle of Peter, second chapter. As 
she read ver. 24, light and peace came 
in an instant. “Who His own self bare 
our sins in His own body on the tree, 
that we, being dead to sins, should live 
unto righteousness ; by whose stripes ye 


trials and triumphs. 


53 


were healed,’^ was the wonderful mes- 
sage to her soul. She saw it all. Christ 
had died for her, bearing all her sins on 
Calvary, and by His stripes, endured for 
her sake, she was healed, saved, sancti- 
fied — “dead to sins.” 

When her mother returned she saw at 
once the change in Elaine’s face. Mrs. 
Grant came later, but she was not need- 
ed, only to praise with Elaine the grace 
of God and the love of Christ, displayed 
in her conversion. 

Myrtie’s former companion in nature 
now became her intimate companion in 
Christ, and a very warm attachment 
sprang up between them. They shared 
each others joys and trials, and were the 
wonder of the place. Mr Grant gave 
them several packets of tracts, and to- 
gether they went to the colored people’s 
houses to distribute them and sing to 


54 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


them some of the new hymns they had 
learned at Mr. Grant’s meetings. 

Richard, the colored boy who helped 
Mrs. Moseley about the house, also pro- 
fessed to be converted, and used all his 
money to buy a Bible. Christians, too, 
were helped and quickened in their souls. 


55 


CHAPTER VI. 

Margaret and her Dream* 

“Y^OU have not yet taken us to the 
houses of the really poor or desti- 
tute as you promised us, Miss Myrtie,” 
said Mr. Grant one day, after they had 
been nearly three weeks at Dunmore. 

“I am ready at any time,” replied 
Myrtie pleasantly. “ I can go this after- 
noon if it suits you and Mrs. Grant.” 

” It will suit us exactly. It is not very 
warm to-day and we can start immedi- 
ately after dinner,” said Mr. Grant. So 
after dinner the trio started out on their 
mission of mercy. As they walked down 
the narrow, winding street, over the 
clean, white, coral limestone pavement. 


56 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


Mr. Grant said to Myrtle, “Whose 
house will yon guide us to this after- 
noon ? ” 

“ I have a number of places in mind,” 
said Myrtle. 

“ I should like to visit someone who is 
the Lord’s,” he said. “Scripture says we 
are to do good unto all men, but spe- 
cially unto them who are of the house- 
hold of faith. So take us to some Christ- 
ian. They have the first claim upon us.” 

“Very well,” answered Myrtie, “I will 
take you to see Margaret the leper. She 
is, I believe, a true Christian, though 
very ignorant. We will not go in, but 
can stand and talk with her at the door. 
She will be glad to see us I know.” 

They were soon at Margaret’s gate. 
She lived in a poor little hut, with a di- 
lapidated thatched roof. She was not 
old, though elderly, and her black shin- 



She lived in a poor little hut.” p. 56 








MARGARET AND HER DREAM. 57 

ing face had a pleasant expression. She 
was greeted by Myrtie pleasantly, who 
said, “I have brought some friends to 
see you, Margaret. They are Americans, 
but love the Lord Jesus Christ, and will 
talk to you a little.” 

Margaret, on hearing this, dropped 
one of those funny curtesies, so peculiar 
to the old West Indian negroes. Their 
bodies remain rigid, neither do they bow 
their heads, but seem to suddenly bend 
their knees and “ duck,” just as a person 
with a stiff neck would do on entering a 
doorway for which he was much too 
tall. It reminds one of a bare-foot boy 
suddenly stepping on a tack or sharp 
stone. 

Like all the older and well -trained 
colored people, Margaret waited to be 
spoken to first by the strangers. So, af- 
ter the ordinary salutations, Mr. Grant 


58 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


said, “ Do you know Jesus, Margaret ? ’’ 
She clasped her hands so suddenly as 
almost to clap them, and closing her 
eyes, said reverently, “ Yes, Marsa, He is 
my own blessed Jesus I ” 

“ How long have you known Him as 
your Saviour? ” 

“Oh, long time, long, long; I girl 
when Jesus fine me.’^ 

“Don’t you get weary being shut up 
in your house all alone ? ” 

“ No, Marsa ; Jesus, He wid me all day 
an’ all night.” 

“ Can you read? ” 

“No Marsa, neba laant t’ read.” 

“ Then you must find it hard, not be- 
ing able to read God’s word.” 

“But Jesus talk wid me. I sits here 
all alone and feels Him close, close. One 
night I dream Jesus come to my bed. 
He ha’ two bright^crown in Him han’. 


MARGARET AND HER DREAM. 59 

He say / Here Margaret, here two crown 
fo’ you.’ ” 

“ And did you take them ? ” 

“Yes, Marsa.” 

“ What did you do with them ? ” 

“I put one by, an’ wored oder one. 
By ’m by de crown I wear turn brack, 
brack. I look at oder crown ; him no 
shine eider. Oh I feel bad. Den Jesus, 
Him come ’gen. He say, ‘ What matter, 
Margaret ? ’ I say,‘ Lawd, de two crown 
no more shine.’ He say, ‘Neber min’ 
chile. By ’m by I come ’gen an’ gib yo’ 
crown wot always stay shiney bright.’ 
An’ oh, I feel so happy den, my heart al- 
most bust!'' Here she seemed almost 
overcome with emotion, and Mr. Grant 
had to wait some time before she ceased 
wringing her hands, rolling her tear- 
filled eyes, and swinging her head from 
side to side. At last he said, 


60 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


Well Margaret, you dreamed of three 
crowns, and Scripture also speaks of 
three, the ‘crown of life,’ the ‘crown of 
righteousness,’ and the ‘crown of glory 
which fadeth not away.’ That is the 
one the Saviour must have meant when 
He told you of the one that would never 
tarnish or grow dim.” He spoke at 
some length of these three crowns, and 
then they left, as they were tired stand- 
ing, and dared not sit down anywhere 
within the leprous yard. The Grants 
noticed that the ends of her fingers were 
gone, though her face was not disfigured. 
They made several other calls on their 
way home. They usually found the col- 
ored women poking about their smo- 
king fires in their “yard” or stretched 
full length on the floor of their houses, 
often puffing away at an old black pipe. 
All said, “How de,” courteously, and 



AN ISLAND CHAPEL {colored). 






MARGARET AND HER DREAM. 61 

some of the less informed were heard 
to ask over stone walls, “Ho da? 
wa dey do?” (who is that? what do 
they do?) concerning the retreating 
visitors. All seemed glad to get tracts 
and commenced to read them aloud to 
themselves almost immediately. They 
were frequently followed by men, wom- 
en and children, asking for “tracks.” 

They called on one old man who 
appeared to be a real believer in the 
Lord Jesus. He told Mr. Grant he was 
“ elda in de Baptis ” (Baptist elder). He 
could not read, and made a statement 
which even Mr. Grant could not help 
smiling at. He said, “De Bible, I hea’ 
tell, say de earf resolve roun’ on him axle- 
trees.” After they had left him, Myrtie 
told of a white man she knew, who was 
both able to read and in fairly good cir- 
cumstances, who when told that the 


62 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


sun was hundreds of times larger than 
the moon, replied, “ I don’t believe it. I 
have eyes to see for myself, and no man 
can tell me that the sun is bigger than 
the moon.” 

On reaching Greycliffe, Richard was 
despatched to the nearest “shop” to 
purchase, at Mr. Grant’s expense, flour, 
pork, tea and other necessaries to be 
carried to Margaret. Myrtie added a 
few delicacies, paid for out of her own 
purse, and they all enjoyed the better 
their own evening repast of toast, tea, 
and native fruits, in knowing that 
Margaret’s wants were, for the present, 
abundantly supplied. 


63 


CHAPTER YII. 

A Visit to the Board-schooL 



days passed pleasantly at Grey- 


cliffe, both to Myrtie with her 
new-found joy in Christ, and the Grants, 
who enjoyed the mild, equable climate 
immensely. 

One morning, early in February, Mr. 
Grant expressed a desire to visit the 
public school. He invited Mrs. Moseley 
to accompany him and his wife, which 
she readil}^ consented to do. Myrtie, on 
hearing this, asked if she might also go. 
Mrs. Moseley said she might, so about 
noon the party set out. The school- 
house was a small-sized, oblong stone 
structure of only one story, set off by 


64 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


itself on an eminence, a short distance 
out of town. It had no play-ground 
around it, only rough rocks and bushes. 
The windows had no sash, and, to ad- 
mit the daylight, the usual close wooden 
shutters were thrown wide open, giving 
thus plenty of ventilation. The sounds 
coming from these open windows, as 
they approached, was a perfect babel. 
Just outside the door were dozens of 
nondescript native straw hats lying 
about, in all stages of decadence. A few 
had been weighted down with stones by 
their more thoughtful owners. The re- 
mainder of the children’s hats they found 
inside, stacked up in one corner of the 
school-room. Mr. Wood, the master of 
the school, gave his visitors a hearty 
welcome. He was a thin, worried, weary- 
looking man ; and no wonder : for here, 
in a single room, not more than 25x35, 


A VISIT TO THE BOARD-SCHOOL. 65 

were packed a dense mass of children, 
possibly one hundred or more. On the 
master’s desk was a large conch-shell, 
which served as a horn, (the school had 
no bell) besides two or three rattans, 
which gave evidence that some one 
thought it is better for rattans as 
well as people “to wear out than to 
rust out.” In one corner of the room 
stood a bucket of water out of which 
the scholars drank from an old rusty 
tomato can. 

Mj^rtie was careful to take a seat by 
one of the windows, for in spite of the 
generous ventilation, the odor from this 
steaming mass of, shall we say, in- 
dustry, was, to one unused to it, almost 
unbearable. 

Excepting a few sickly -looking white 
boys, the school was wholly colored. 
The master told Mr. Grant, such is the 


66 


MYRTIE MOSEEEY. 


condition of the public schools in the 
Bahamas, that nearly one fourth of the 
children of the colony attend the private 
schools. Teaching, he said, was dis- 
couraging work. Few of the teachers 
were paid more than seventy -five pounds 
(about $350) a year, with sometimes 
a “ teacher’s residence ” thrown in. The 
work, he said, was almost killing. The 
scholars attended very irregularly, and 
were sometimes sent to school without 
a mouthful of breakfast, so that it was 
almost impossible for them to study. A 
few of the larger scholars called “pupil- 
teachers” assisted him as monitors or 
in teaching the lower classes. Three or 
four classes were often on the floor at 
the same time and the uproar was al- 
most deafening. He said the colored 
children usually kept up with the whites 
until they entered their teens, after 


A VISIT TO THE BOARD-SCHOOE. 67 

which it seemed impossible for the most 
of them to advance further. The seats 
were all about ten feet or more in length, 
and none of them had backs. Nearly all 
the children were barefoot and many of 
them were dressed in rags. After the 
visitors had heard the children sing, the 
master asked Mr. Grant if he cared to 
address a few questions or remarks to 
the school. Mr. Grant replied that he 
should, so standing up behind the mas- 
ter’s desk, he drew his Bible from his 
pocket, and holding it up, asked, “ What 
book is this, children ? ” 

“The Bible, sir,” cried a chorus of 
voices. 

“Yes; and why do we call it the Bible ? 
Do we find the word ‘Bible’ anywhere 
from Genesis to Revelation ? ” 

Some answered, “No,” and others 
“Yes.” 


68 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


“No’ is right,” said Mr. Grant. “It 
is not called ‘ Bible ’ anywhere excepting 
on the title page, which is not, of course, 
inspired. But what is it called in the 
Bible itself? ” 

“The Scriptures, sir,” said a little girl, 
timidly holding up her hand. 

“That is right, my child. They are 
called ‘ the Scriptures ’ or the ‘ Holy 
Scriptures.’ Scripture means writing, 
and these are the holy writings, because 
inspired of God. But they are called 
something else. Who can tell us ? ” 

There was a pause, and much looking 
at one another, as if each expected to 
read the answer in the other’s eyes. At 
last a good-sized boy cried suddenly, as 
if he feared someone might get ahead of 
him, “ The word of God, sir.” 

“Correct,” said Mr. Grant. “They are 
called Hhe Holy Scriptures’ and ‘the 


A VISIT TO THE BOARD-SCHOOL. 69 

Word of God.’ But then why do we call 
it the Bible 

Of course nobody could tell, not even 
the master himself, we suppose. So Mr. 
Grant continued : — 

“What is the meaning of the word 
Bible ? None of you can tell, I suppose, 
so I must tell you myself. It is a word 
taken from the Greek language, and 
means a library. What is a library? 
now, who can tell ? ” 

“A book, sir,” said one. 

“No, not quite. I know you speak 
here in the Bahamas of a book taken 
from the public or Sunday-school library 
as a ‘ library ’ but it is incorrect. Give 
another trial.” 

“A building, sir,” said a faint voice. 

“No, you are thinking of the library 
building. The building is not the libra- 
ry. Try again somebody.” 


70 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


^‘A book-case, sir,” cried a boy, who 
spoke as if he was certain he had it right 
this time. 

Wrong again,’’ said Mr. Grant. “A 
book case is only a place where books 
are kept. Somebody tell ns now what 
a library is ? ” 

No one venturing another guess, Mr. 
Grant said, “Well, I suppose I must tell 
you. A library is a collection of books. 
—What is it now ? ” 

“A collection of books,” shouted the 
whole school at once. 

“Very well. The Bible is a collection 
of books. It was first called by this 
name in the fourth century by a servant 
of God named Chrysostom. Try and re- 
member that name now. What was his 
name ? ” 

“Chrysostom,” roared a good part of 
the school. It was too difficult for the 


A VISIT TO THE BOARD -SCHOOL. 71 

little ones. Some of the larger scholars 
got it wofnlly twisted, pronouncing it 
‘ ‘ Chry shorstem, ’ ’ “ Kosostem, ” “ Ki- 

sostin,” and what not. 

“Now, tell me, children, how many 
books are in this library ? Your public 
library here has about 1000 books in it. 
The old Alexandrian library of Egypt, 
which was burnt forty -seven years be- 
fore Christ, contained 700,000 volumes. 
But this sacred library in my hands, 
how many books does it contain? — 
Nobody seems to know. Well let us see. 
There are thirty-nine books in the old 
section of this library and twenty-seven 
in the new. How many is that, now ? ” 
“Sixty-six,” said a chorus of voices, 
though some were considerably behind 
the others. Someone said, “sixty -five,” 
and another “seventy-six.” 

“It is a library of sixty-six books 


72 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


then, ’ ’ continued Mr. Grant. “Now how 
long did it take to make this library ? 
Let us figure that out. Who wrote the 
oldest — the first five books of this libra- 
ry? Someone says ‘ Moses. ^ This is 
right. That was how many years be- 
fore Christ? Let your school-master 
tell us. Fifteen hundred years, about, 
he says, which is correct. Now how 
many years ago is it since Christ was 
born?’^ 

“ Eighteen hundred,’’ some said. Oth- 
ers answered more correctly, “Nearly 
nineteen hundred, sir.” 

“ Let us say about 2000 for even num- 
bers. How old then are the first five 
books of this library ? This big boy here 
says, ‘Three thousand, five hundred,’ 
which is correct. And these are by far 
the oldest books extant, or in existence, 
to-day. The newest of these books were 


A VISIT TO THE BOARD-SCHOOL. 73 

written by the apostles of the Lord, so 
God took 1500 years to make this li- 
brary for ns. Now, how many men, 
about, did God employ to write this 
library for us ? — No one answers, and as 
it is rather a difficult question, I will an- 
swer it myself. He employed over thirty 
different men to write this library for us. 
Were they all well educated men ? Some 
say ‘yes,^ and some say ‘no.’ ‘No’ is 
correct. All were not educated men. 
Some like David, who wrote most of the 
Psalms and was made to mind sheep in 
his boyhood, were not men of great 
learning. The prophet Amos was ‘a 
herdsman ’ and ‘ a gatherer of sycamore 
fruit.’ Others, like Moses, Solomon and 
Daniel, were brought up as princes, so 
of course, must have been highly edu- 
cated. The writers of the New Testa- 
ment, were also, some of them, like Paul 


74 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


and Luke, men of education. Others, 
like Peter and James and John, who had 
been fishermen, were not well educated. 
It says in Acts iv. 13, that their judges 
‘ perceived that they were unlearned and 
ignorant men.’ These books were all 
written on skins called parchments, and 
did not look like our books at all. They 
were in the form of rolls and were un- 
rolled to be read — something like our 
patent shade rollers. He asked them a 
few more questions, and then, after a 
few words with Mr. Wood, left with 
the others. 

It was a relief to get out into the pure, 
fresh air once more, and the walk home 
was enjoyed by all. They met a boy re- 
turning to the school, who had been sent 
out during their visit, to bring a bucket 
of water. He had it balanced on his 
head and seemed to have no more 


A VISIT TO THE BOARD-SCHOOL. 75 

trouble to keep it there than if it had 
been his cap. He saluted them gracefully 
as they passed and took care to give 
them all of the narrow pathway. They 
were a little tired on reaching Greyclilfe 
(it does not take much exertion to 
weary one in the Bahamas) and were 
glad to rest themselves before dinner in 
the shade of the broad piazzas. 


76 


CHAPTER YIII. 

Deadman^s Cay* 

^^APT. Moseley, on his return home, 
seemed satisfied to have the visi- 
tors at his house. Though not himself 
a Christian, he, like most of the better- 
class Bahamians, respected Christian- 
ity, and appeared pleased to learn of 
Myrtle’s conversion. 

One day, shortly after his return, he 
proposed spending a few days at his 
“fields” on Headman’s Cay, and invited 
the Grants to accompany him with his 
family. His guests readily acceded to 
this, and Myrtle asked if she might in- 
vite Elaine. Her father consented, and 
she immediately hurried off to tell Elaine 


DE adman’s cay. 


77 


and ask her mother to allow her to go. 
Elaine’s mother, after asking who was 
to make up the party, how long they 
were going to stay, etc., said she might 
go, and the two girls almost clapped 
their hands for joy. 

Capt. Moseley ordered Richard to get 
the sail-boat ready, while Euphrasia 
Victoria packed up the clothes, bedding, 
dishes and provisions necessary for their 
proposed six days’ stay at the Cay. 
They were to go on Monday, and return, 
“please God,” (as even the wickedest Ba- 
hamians say) on Saturday. Myrtie and 
Elaine were careful to bring their bath- 
ing suits, as there was a fine, hard, san- 
dy beach on the north side of the Cay, 
where there was no danger from sharks. 

Richard soon had everything safely in 
the boat, and about ten o’clock they 
hoisted sail and were off, leaving Grey- 


78 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


clifFe in sole charge of Phrasia, and Rex, 
the faithful yard-dog. 

On the way, Capt. Moseley explained 
to Mr. Grant how farming was carried 
on in the Bahamas. There being no 
wagon roads, he said, the people did not 
live scattered about, but in settlements 
along the shore, traveling from place to 
place in boats. The nature of the land 
is such that it can only be worked in 
patches, called “fields.” These tillable 
tracts lie often miles away from the set- 
tlements, and, to save time, the farmers 
frequently build little huts on them, and 
live there with their families, sometimes 
months at a time. Capt. Moseley said 
he owned the whole of Deadman’s Cay, 
which contained in all about fifty 
acres. 

They were not long in making their 
ten-mile voyage, and about noon were 


deadman’s cay. 


79 


landed on the rocks, which at high tide 
formed a kind of natural wharf. Myrtie 
and Elaine rushed up the narrow path- 
way, through the bushes, to the house, 
and commenced to throw open the shut- 
ters and sweep the floor. It was a small 
one-story house with a palm-thatched 
roof. There were three small rooms 
down stairs, and a kind of garret, 
reached by a ladder, in which the two 
girls were to sleep. 

Leaving his wife and Mrs. Grant, with 
Richard, to get things to rights at the 
liouse, Capt. Moseley started ofl* with 
Mr. Grant and the girls to see the fruits 
and vegetables. They went first to a 
good-sized cocoa-nut grove where they 
picked up some large, green nuts. Capt. 
Moseley took a sheath-knife he had with 
him and cut off the ends of several, while 
the girls caught the “water” in turn- 


80 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


biers as it gushed out. Mr. Grant tasted 
it, but did not like it at all. 

“ We ‘ conchs ’ are all very fond of it,’’ 
said Myrtie laughingly, “though few 
Yankees seem to care for it. Perhaps 
you will like the ‘jelly.’ ” So saying, she 
scooped out with a spoon the soft jelly- 
like white substance which in the ma- 
tured cocoa-nut forms the hard, tough 
meat with which people in the North are 
familiar. Mr. Grant liked this better. 
“ This is the way we nearly always eat 
cocoa-nuts,’’ said Myrtie. As they were 
leaving the grove, Mr. Grant told the 
party of Mohammed once saying that 
his religion could only thrive where the 
palm-tree grew, meaning that it was 
only adapted to people living in a tropi- 
cal climate. This he contrasted with 
the words of the Lord Jesus, who said 
to |His disciples, “Go ye into all the 


deadman’s cay. 


81 


world and preacli the gospel to every 
creature.” His gospel is suited to all, 
because it meets the need of all; not only 
where the graceful palm throws out its 
waving fronds, but in the frozen north 
amongst Arctic lichens and reindeer- 
moss, in the temperate regions where 
the majestic oak-tree flourishes, and 
everywhere, wherever sinful man is 
found. 

They passed patches of ripening toma- 
toes, (though it was early in February) 
watermelons, and sweet potatoes, until, 
at last, they reached the pine-apple bed. 
This interested Mr. Grant very much. 
Capt. Moseley explained to him how the 
slips were set out in the summer-time, 
and usually took nearly two whole 
years to bring forth a crop. Owing to 
the rocky nature of the soil, they were 
not planted in rows or drills, but scat- 


82 


MYRTLE MOSELEY. 


tered broadcast, with scarcely space 
enough between to crowd through to 
weed in winter or gather the crop in 
May or June. The tiny, green pine- 
apples were growing at the end of a 
stalk shooting out of the midst of the 
spiked sword -shaped leaves, of which 
the leaves at the top of a matured 
“pine” (as the fruit is called here) is al- 
most an exact representation, only on a 
much smaller scale. They found a few 
odd ripe ones (called “winter” pines) 
and returned with them to the house. 
The remainder of the day passed very 
pleasantly to all, and after Scripture- 
reading and prayer by Mr. Grant, they 
prepared to spend their first night on 
the lonely cay. Bedsteads, of course, 
were out of the question, so mattresses 
were spread on the bare floor. Myrtie 
and Elaine climbed laughingly into their 


deadman’s cay. 


83 


attic-chamber, while Richard went off 
to sleep under the decked portion of the 
boat. 

The girls shook their bed-clothes out 
carefully, so as to discover any chance 
centipede or scorpion, as these dreaded 
creatures have a special liking for dis- 
used or damp buildings. After praying 
together, they talked themselves to sleep. 

At sunrise the next morning they were 
up and away to the beach for a bath. 
The water was deliciously temperate, 
and as both were excellent swimmers, 
they passed a delightful hour diving and 
tumbling about in the surf. After break- 
fast they sat together in the hammock 
in the shade of two tamarind trees, and 
read their Bibles. Capt. Moseley took 
Richard to the fields with him to work, 
their only implements, (instruments or 
accoutrements rather) as with all Ba- 


84 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


hamian farmers, being a sheath -knife 
and machete. The Grants went for a 
stroll along the beach, while Mrs. Mose- 
ley busied herself about the house. A 
white girl in the Bahamas is never sup- 
posed to do kitchen work until after her 
marriage, and then it is usually left en- 
tirely to colored servants. But Mrs. 
Moseley was a model housekeeper, and 
could turn her hand to almost anything 
about the house. 

Towards sunset, Richard reported a 
steamer to the eastward of them, and 
they all went down to the shore to 
watch it disappear on the horizon. Mr. 
Grant took occasion to ask Capt. Mose- 
ley about a portion of an old hulk he 
had seen during his walk that morning. 
Capt. Moseley said it was the remains 
of a slaver, wrecked on the reef many 
years ago. A portion of the crew and 


deadman’s cay. 


85 


a few slaves only were saved. Several 
of these old Africans, he said, were still 
living at Dunmore. “One of them was 
the son of an African chief,” said he, 
“and still goes about the street with a 
few rooster feathers stuck in his greasy 
cap to show his rank, though even peo- 
ple of his own color laugh at him.” 

“On our way home,” he added, “I 
will show you where a Norwegian ves- 
sel called the ‘ Baltic ’ was driven on the 
beach and wrecked some years ago. She 
was soon buried in the quicksands, and 
the outline of her decks can still be seen 
beneath the water under certain favor- 
able conditions.” 

So the time passed; days came and 
went, and when Saturday arrived the 
girls were almost sorry that they could 
not remain another week. Not so Rich- 
ard. Working in the fields every day 


86 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


under the sharp eye of Capt. Moseley 
was not at all to his liking, and he was 
only too glad when they hoisted sail 
and steered for Dunmore. He was not 
proving his faith by his works, and Mr. 
Grant was not at all satisfied as to the 
reality of his conversion. 

On their way home they passed in 
close to where the buried “Baltic” lay, 
and, sure enough, there, like a dark sha- 
dow on the white sandy bottom, was 
the outline of the ill-fated vessel, with 
even the stumps of her masts well de- 
fined. It was a curious sight, Mr. Grant 
said, and well worth seeing. 

They reached home without a mishap 
and found quite a crowd of friends to 
welcome them on the wharf. It seemed 
good to all to be back once more to 
dear old Greycliffe. “After all,” said 
Myrtie, “there’s no place like home I” 


87 


CHAPTER IX. 

The Children's Meeting* 


“ said Mjrtie one after- 

noon at the dinner table, “why 
can’t we have a children’s meeting some 
day such as we read about in the papers 
and books you give us? Elaine and I 
and some of the other children have been 
talking about it, and I said I would ask 
you.” 

“I am willing, I am sure,” replied Mr. 
Grant,” if you think the children would 
like it. But where can we have it ? The 
shipyard is too public for children and 
I know of no other place.” 

“Why, we can have it right here in our 


88 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


3'ard, can’t we Papa?” asked Myrtie, 
turning to her father. 

“Yes, I suppose so, if your mother is 
willing.” 

Mrs. Moseley, as usual, was willing, so 
it was arranged to have it on Saturday 
afternoon at four o’clock. Lawn seats 
were collected from the neighboring 
yards, chairs were brought out of the 
house, and Richard rigged up a few ex- 
tra seats out of boxes and boards. Sat- 
urday turned out to be a beautiful day, 
and about fifty girls and boys, mostly 
white, came together. The girls were 
dressed (as they are in the Bahamas the 
whole year round) in white, and they 
looked very pretty, ranged in rows un- 
der the mango and avacado pear-trees. 
Mr. Grant noticed, though, that scarcely 
any of the boys or girls had rosy cheeks. 
He remarked to Mrs. Grant that white 


THE children’s MEETING. 89 

people are never at their best, physically, 
in a tropical climate, and that the cold 
and ice and snow she had fled from have 
their advantages, as well as their slight 
inconveniences. 

There were no large boys present, 
though a few stood outside the gate to 
listen, or perhaps only to see. A poor 
leper boy had climbed into an almond- 
tree just outside the wall, to look and 
listen. Several came in carriages , — baby 
carriages, — and what good such little 
ladies and gentlemen could get from a 
meeting was difficult to say. But it was 
a children's meeting, and their colored 
nurses brought them with their older 
brothers and sisters. 

After giving three of the older girls 
each a slip of paper, Mr. Grant gave out 
the opening hymn, just as Ezekiel (the 
big Barbadian policeman) struck the 


90 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


hour of four on the jail-yard bell. He 
began the address by saying: ‘‘Children, 
I am going to talk to you a little about 
bees — Bible bees, — this afternoon. What 
do bees remind you of ? ” 

There was no answer, so he continued: 
“I know you do not keep bees here in 
the ‘ out islands ’ as we do up north, but 
most of you have read something about 
bees in your school or other books. 
What do bees produce ? ” 

“Honey,” said a number of voices. 

“That’s right — honey,” said Mr. 
Grant; “what else, now, do bees do, 
sometimes ? ” 

“They stings, sir,” said a bright eyed 
colored boy. 

“Yes, they sting. Now what else do 
they do? ” 

No one seemed able to answer, so he 
asked again, “What else do bees do be- 


THE children’s MEETING. 91 

sides making honey and stinging boys 
and girls who come too close to their 
hives or nests? What are they noted 
for?” 

There was quite a long silence, when 
at last Amanda Wood, the school- 
master’s daughter, said, “Work?” in a 
questioning kind of tone, as if she were 
not quite certain. 

“That’s it,” said Mr. Grant. “Bees 
are noted for their industry. You know 
the lines beginning : — 

‘ How doth the little, busy bee 
Improve each shining hour. 

By gathering honey all the day. 

From every opening flow’r.’ 

Now I am going to speak to you of 
three Scripture bees, a stinging bee, a 
honey bee, and a working bee. The 
stinging bee is mentioned in Numbers 


92 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


xxxii. 23. Persis Sands will read the last 
clause of the verse for us. Read loud 
and distinctly so that all can hear, 
please.” 

A delicate looking girl about Myrtle’s 
age stood up, and read from her Bible, 
“And he sure your sin will find you 
out.” 

“That is the stinging bee,” said Mr. 
Grant. “The thought that all men’s 
sins will some day be found out and ex- 
posed is meant to sting the conscience. 
It should make every unconverted boy 
and girl here tremble. You have all sin- 
ned and I hope this “ bee ” will sting you 
hard this afternoon. I know from ex- 
perience how painful a bee-sting is. 
When I was a boy, about as big as 
Redith over there, I foolishly climbed 
up into one of my father’s apple-trees, 
where some bees had made a nest, and 


THE children’s MEETING. 93 

one of them stung me on the forehead. 
I cried with pain and lay on the floor 
nearly all the afternoon, with a mud 
plaster over the wound. And when we 
think of all our sins it is painful, espe- 
cially when we think of our secret sins. 
Some day, children, all will be found out, 
though you may now hide them from 
your parents and teachers. I will tell 
you another story of my boyhood. Our 
large cellar was being floored with ce- 
ment, and,contrary to my parents’ com- 
mands, I went down the steps and tried 
to walk on the newly -laid cement. 
Down went my foot in the soft cement. 
I stepped quickly back and ran upstairs, 
thinking nobody would know who did 
it. But that night I was reprimanded 
for what I had done. How do you think 
they knew it was I who did it ? Why 
they just measured the foot-print and so 


94 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


my sin found me out. The damage was 
easily repaired, but I think I could find 
the mark on the cellar floor to this 
day.” 

After talking a little more about this 
“bee” he said, “We will now hear 
about a honey-bee of Scripture. Myr- 
tie, read the text I gave you — Acts 
xvi. 31.” 

Myrtie rose to her feet and read her 
verse, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved.” 

“We call that the honey-bee,” said 
Mr. Grant, “because it yields such 
sweetness to those who have been stung 
by the ‘bee’ Persis read about. The 
Philippian jailer was stung by that ‘ bee’ 
when he fell trembling before the apos- 
tles, crying, ‘ Sirs, what must I do to be 
saved ? ’ And the ‘ bee ’ they told him of 
was so sweet to his soul that he ‘ re- 


THE children’s MEETING. 95 

joiced^^ it is said, ‘believing in God with 
all his house.’ ” 

Myrtie thought, as he spoke, of her 
own experience. “I know those two 
‘bees’ well,” she thought to herself. 
Elaine knew them too, and several oth- 
ers present. Myrtie thought Mr. Grant 
spoke beautifully of faith in Christ as 
the only means of being saved. That 
‘‘be saved” was a very sweet one to 
her soul and she was almost sorry when 
he called for the third and last “bee.” 
It was in 1 Cor. xv. 58. “jBe ye sted- 
fast, unmovable, always abounding in 
the work of the Lord.” A Christian girl 
named Lilah Roberts read it. 

“This is the ‘bee’ of industry,” said 
Mr. Grant. “We are first convicted or 
stung by the first ‘bee.’ Then we believe 
on Christ as our Saviour, who died for 
all our sins and put them away forever. 


96 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


SO that God can saj of all who believe, 
‘ Their sins and their iniquities will I re- 
member no more.’ We know we have 
only to believe to ‘be saved.’ But when 
saved we have much to do, and those of 
you who know the second ‘ bee ’ by ex- 
perience must not forget the last ‘bee.’ 
There is a little verse I like very much. 
It goes, 

‘ I would not work, iny soul to save, 

For that my Lord hath done ; 

But I would work like any slave. 

From love to God’s dear Son.’” 

He encouraged the Christians present 
to be“stedfast, unmovable.” He told 
them of many ways in which they might 
work for the Lord, as in helping their 
parents, carrying things to the poor or 
sick, distributing tracts etc. They closed 
y singing the hymn. 


THE children’s MEETING. 97 


“ I am not told to labor, 

To put away my sin.” 

All seemed to enjoy it very much and 
Myrtle learned afterwards that much 
good had been done by it. She herself 
had been benefitted most of all by it, 
she thought. 


98 


CHAPTER X. 

Walks and Talks* 

'^HE Grants were fond of walking, 
and as there were no country 
roads about Dunniore, they had to 
make choice between the white glarey 
streets, or the beach. They usually took 
the beach, where they could gather shells 
and bits of exquisite coral to take north 
as mementoes of their visit. Myrtie and 
Elaine sometimes accompanied them, 
and they would often sit in the shade of 
a sea-grape tree, or beneath an over- 
hanging rock, while Mr. Grant explained 
passages of Scripture which had puzzled 
them. 

He never grew tired of admiring the 


WALKS AND TALKS. 


99 


chameleon tints of the sea spread out be- 
fore them. In some places (according to 
the depth, and nature of the bottom) it 
was of a most delicate pale green color, 
shading off gradually into a dark bottle 
green, ending in the foaming reef which 
stretched parallel with the shore, like a 
narrow snow-bank, for miles. Beyond 
rolled the “dark blue ocean,” which in 
the far distance appeared to grow pur- 
ple. A shimmering, circling line of light 
marked the horizon where sea and sky 
appeared to meet and merge. Patches 
of purple, brown, and bronze marked 
the position of sunken rocks, or sea- 
gardens of weed, sea-fans and sea- 
feathers. Myrtie told him that the 
beauty of the Bahamian seas excited 
the admiration of all visitors. Their 
matchless tints were due, Mr. Grant 
thought, chiefly to the white coralline 


100 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


sand of the bottom and the transpar- 
ency of the water. 

Their strolls about the streets and 
lanes of Dunmore were equally interest- 
ing, though containing more of the dra- 
matic, than the poetic element of their 
sea-side rambles. Mr. Grant usually 
carried his medicine case about with 
him when visiting the cots and cabins 
of the colored people (who appeared to 
be always ailing). Some of his “pa- 
tients” puzzled him more than their 
diseases. “Pills ” were always in great 
demand. Dialogues, something like the 
following, were of frequent occurence. 

“Please gimme med’cine, Marsa 
Grant.” 

“jWhat is the matter with you ? ” 

“Oh, I feelin’ bad, sah.” 

“ How do you feel ? have you fever ? ” 

“No sah, I got a pain.” 




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WALKS AND TALKS. 


101 


Where? ” 

‘‘Oh, all ova hea’, sah,” rubbing over 
the whole trunk from the shoulders to 
the hips and often to the knees. Of 
course, a diagnosis in such a case could 
be only guess-work, and the medicine as 
good as thrown away. They appeared 
to have a passion for pills, drugs, and 
“draffs,” of any description, though the 
most abominable were generally believed 
by them to be the most efficacious. 

One old grandfather said he was 
troubled with “indigestion of the stom- 
ach” (as if one could have indigestion 
anywhere else). Numbers told him that 
they had “enjoyed bad health” for 
years. One white man said he was suf- 
fering from “shortness of breath across 
his loins.” “ Here is a case for a special- 
ist,” thought Mr. Grant on hearing it. 
One poor man asked him what he 


102 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


charged for the medicine just given 
him. 

“A thousand pounds,” said Mr.Grant, 
seriously. 

His patient stared for a full minute in 
silent astonishment, and then said, “I 
aint got dat much money, boss, an’ neva 
hopes to have it.” 

“Very well, then, you may have it for 
nothing. My terms are, for nothing, 
or one thousand pounds.” 

“Well, I habs t’ take et fu’ notin’ den, 
boss, ’cos I aint got tousan’ poun’s.” 

“That’s just like the law and the gos- 
pel. The Lord says to those who want 
to pay for salvation by good works, 
‘This do and thou shalt live.’ ‘If thou 
wilt enter into life, keep the command- 
ments.’ He knows very well that no 
one can do this, when He says it, just as 
I knew you could not pay a thousand 


WALKS AND TALKS. 


103 


cents, mucli less a thousand pounds. 
But if a man is willing to be saved for 
nothing He says ‘only believe.’ ‘This 
is the work of God that ye believe on 
Him whom He hath sent.’ Do you un- 
derstand that now ? ” 

“Yes, sah; I tinks so, sah.” 

All claimed to have religion of some 
kind or other. One young woman said 
enthusiastically. “Oh, I’se gwine t’ walk 
de hebenly J’ruslem wid my feet shod 
wid de golding banner o’ lub I ” 

Some of them possessed strange family 
names. One was Wm. Wildgoose; an- 
other Nehemiah Bowleg. These curious 
names probably originated in the days 
of slavery, when the master gave the 
newly landed slaves any name they 
chose, though they were usually called 
after the name of their owners. 

He was sometimes questioned by them 


104 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


as to his age, birthplace, etc. He some- 
times told them he was born in the state 
of New York and in the state of Indiana. 
Also that he was born thirty years ago, 
and ten years ago. This always created 
looks of half doubt and amazement, till 
he explained to them the difference be- 
tween the first and the second, or “new 
birth.” Much good was accomplished 
by these door-yard conversations. Curt- 
sies and salutations were lavished upon 
him, and he was called “minista” in 
spite of himself. 

Though many of them seemed hope- 
lessly dense, he took courage from the 
text, “Sow ye beside all waters,” and 
flooded the town with tracts and gospel 
papers. 


105 


CHAPTER XI. 

A Sail to Morgan^s Bluff* 

jYJR- and Mrs. Grant made many 
friends among the more intelli- 
gent white population of Dunmore. In 
their afternoon walks about town they 
often stopped to chat with the farmers, 
fishermen, and ship carpenters, whose 
day’s work ended at four o’clock, and 
who usually spent the remainder of the 
day lounging about in groups in the 
shade of buildings or almond -trees. 
They were, as a rule, very polite, and 
were never heard to swear. 

Mrs. Grant was especially attracted 
to the old retired sea captains, who 


106 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


seemed never to tire of telling thrilling 
yams of fearful wrecks and terrific hur- 
ricanes, in which they had figured 
prominently. 

One day the Christian captain of one 
of the fishing smacks belonging to Dun- 
more offered to take Mr. Grant and any 
others to a small colored settlement 
about fifteen miles off called Morgan’s 
Bluff, (after a seventeenth century West 
Indian pirate of that name). Mr. Grant 
proposed to take a party and have an 
open-air meeting with the inhabitants 
there. Myrtie and Elaine were delighted 
at the idea, and on the following Friday, 
after an early dinner, a party of fifty or 
sixty (men, women, children, and babies) 
set sail for “the Bluff,” as it was called, 
in the smack “Invincible.” Some, as 
usually happens on such occasions, were 
late, and just reached the wharf as the 


A SAIL TO Morgan’s bluff. 107 

vessel tacked out of the harbor. “ That 
is just how it will be when the Lord 
comes again,” remarked Mr. Grant, as 
the crowd on deck waved handkerchiefs 
and hats and shouted, “Good-by, ”to the 
disappointed ones on the wharf. “Many 
expect to be saved some day, but put 
off getting ready like our disappointed 
friends on shore. And I fear many will 
knock at mercy’s door too late.” 

They reached the harbor of Mor- 
gan’s Bluff in safety after a two hours 
pleasant sail. Word of their coming 
had been sent on before, and, as they 
passed through the bottle-necked har- 
bor’s mouth, shouts were heard on 
shore, “De ‘Convincible’s comin!” “De 
minista come,” etc. A crowd soon col- 
lected to greet them and help them a- 
shore. On landing, they agreed upon a 
spot and hour for the preaching, and 


108 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


then scattered, some to hunt for oranges 
and West Indian plums, others who had 
never been there before to stroll about 
the place, and a few, with Mr. Grant, to 
search for a drink of good water, — a 
scarce article everywhere in the Baha- 
mas. The people were too poor to have 
“tanks” (cisterns), and there was no- 
thing to do but drink what they call 
“spring” water, which is not spring 
water at all, but brackish sea- water ob- 
tained from wells dug in the sand, or 
hewn out of the coarse, porous rock. 

A bright little black boy offered to 
supply them out of his mother’s well, but 
he was so anxious to serve the visitors 
(animated, no doubt, by visions of pro- 
spective “coppers”) that in his haste 
his foot slipped at the brink of the well, 
and down he plunged, feet foremost, 
fortunately. He was soon fished out 


A SAIL TO Morgan’s bluff. 109 

unhurt, though badly scared. He was 
solaced by Mr. Grant with a bit of sil- 
ver, and he probably thought that tum- 
bling into wells was not such bad busi- 
ness after all, provided always one could 
land on his feet, and have sympathizing 
white folks, with purses in their pockets 
at the time. They had to go elsewhere, 
of course, after water. 

A good crowd collected at the hour 
appointed for the preaching. Mr. Grant, 
who was peculiarly gifted for out-door 
preaching, spoke with marked power, 
and, at the close, a seemingly half drunk 
fellow came up to him, and grasping his 
hand, commenced to bawl and bellow 
at a great rate, saying God had saved 
him during the address. Mr. Grant 
hardly knew how to take his cryings 
and professions of repentance, and asked 
someone aside, “Is he intoxicated?” 


110 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


The man’s friends assured Mr. Grant 
that he had not been drinking, and 
looked considerably awe-struck. But he 
had no time to inquire further, as it 
was getting towards sunset, and Capt. 
Sweeting was anxious to get away. 

Some were behind time again, but of 
course they could not leave anyone at 
this end of the voyage, so all were made 
to wait on two or three stragglers. At 
last they came, just as the sun was set- 
ting in a bank of black storm-clouds. 
The captain looked anxiously at the sky, 
and ordered all the women and children 
to go below. Mrs. Grant became some- 
what alarmed, and asked Capt. Sweet- 
ing if he thought they should have a 
hurricane. “ Oh no,” he said, “not this 
time o’ year. August, September, and 
October are the ‘hurricane months,’ and 
we never have them in winter. But I 


A SAIL TO Morgan’s bluff. Ill 

fear the wind is going round and we are 
in for a no’ther” (norther). “Do you 
think there is any danger?” she asked 
anxiously. “ No,” he said, “ only it may 
be rough, and we may have some heavy 
seas, so you had better go below so as 
not to get wet up.” 

They were soon out of the harbor, and 
bounding homewards over the foaming 
sea. The wind shifted not long after 
they started, and it began to rain a lit- 
tle. There was more or less confusion 
on deck, as on these pleasure voyages 
nearly everyone gives orders as if he 
were captain, and some were shouting 
one thing and some another. The wind 
blew fiercely for a time, and this, with 
the deepening darkness, and the shout- 
ing of the men above, frightened the 
women and children in the cabin, and 
they commenced to cry and scream. 


112 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


There were a few, like Mrs. Grant and 
Myrtie, who were not at all afraid. 

“How nice it is,” said Mrs. Grant, 
“ to be a real believer and to know that 
we are in our heavenly Father’s hands. 
Scripture says, He holds the wind in His 
fists and the waters in the hollow of His 
hands.” This and other things she said 
had a soothing effect on the more timid 
ones of the company. Matters became 
arranged on deck too. A big, fat, good- 
natured man named Walter Pindar took 
the helm, and another man, whose eyes 
were sharp and who knew the way to 
the harbor well, acted as lookout and 
pilot in the bow. They could hear him 
from the cabin crying first, “Luff I” 
then, “Keep off a little!” and then, 
“Steady!” 

Lanterns were lighted below and they 
commenced to sing gospel hymns and 


A SAIL TO MORGAN’S BLUFF. 113 

converse as calmly as if they were on 
their verandas at home. About nine 
o’clock they reached Dunmore harbor, 
without mishap, but just before they 
reached the wharf, the vessel ran a- 
ground on a sand-bar. There was some 
friendly disputing as to who was to 
blame for the accident, which ended in 
the “poor sailoring” being laid to the 
captain’s charge. But the rising tide 
soon floated her ofi*, and a few minutes 
later they were safely landed on the 
wharf. Capt. Moseley stood in the 
crowd awaiting their arrival. He had 
become a little anxious at the sudden 
change in the weather and as they did 
not get home at the hour at which he 
looked for them, he had walked down 
to the pier to make inquiries. He was 
very fond of Myrtie, and was glad to 
have her safely home again. She was 


114 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


growing up a fine, cheery, useful girl 
and he was justly proud of her. 

She told him all the incidents of the 
voyage, as they walked home together 
with Mr. and Mrs. Grant, and then re- 
told them to her mother at the tea-table. 
They retired later than usual that night, 
and as she knelt in prayer at her bed- 
side Myrtie did not forget to ask God’s 
special blessing on the gospel preached 
that day at Morgan’s Bluff. 


115 


CHAPTER XII. 

Farewell to Dunmore* 

jYJ YRTIE and Mrs. Grant often went 
calling together among the better 
class white families, and Mrs. Grant 
was surprised to find them so very po- 
lite and intelligent, in spite of their iso- 
lation and infrequent intercourse with 
strangers. This was largely due, she 
believed, to the influence of the English 
church and Wesleyan ministers and their 
wives who lived among them, and who 
were nearly all from England or Ireland. 

One day they called on Mrs. Giles, at 
the rectory, who told them of some of 
her earlier experiences among the Is- 
lands. She said when she first came out 


116 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


from England with her husband, sixteen 
years ago, she supposed that, he being 
a missionary, the natives must all be 
savages. They landed on the island of 
San Salvador, and as she stepped on 
shore with her first baby in her arms, a 
big black woman came forward and 
taking the child out of her arms, hurried 
off with it through the bushes. She was 
terribly frightened, she said, and called 
to her husband, for, for all that she 
knew, the woman was a cannibal, and 
was about to make a meal of her infant. 
He only smiled and led the way to the 
mission-house in the bush, where she 
found her infant daughter and its volun- 
tary nurse awaiting them. She said, 
too, that when she first saw the white- 
washed, dome-shaped ovens in the peo- 
ple’s yards, she thought honey must 
be very plentiful, as nearly everybody 


FAREWELL TO DUNMORE. 117 

seemed to keep a hive of bees. She after- 
wards learned that nobody kept bees in 
the Bahamas outside of Nassau, and 
nearly all the honey eaten in the colony 
was imported. 

They made frequent visits to the col- 
ored section of the town, and Mrs. 
Grant found that the older ones who 
had been slaves were by far the most in- 
telligent and respectable. But both she 
and her husband found the race a study. 
They appeared affectionate and oblig- 
ing, but nearly all were very fickle and 
quite untrustworthy. They were all 
very religious, and everybody among 
the males called the other “brudder.” 
It was not uncommon to hear two, in 
their fiercest quarrels, calling each other 
“nigga,” “low, brack man,” and every 
opprobrious name imaginable, while 
making all sorts of horrible threats in 


118 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


high-pitched tones, and at the same time 
addressing each other as ‘‘brudder.” 
They rarely came to blows, and usually 
took revenge by cutting away the oth- 
er’s boat, throwing overboard the bal- 
last, or setting fire to the offending 
“ brudder’s ” fields. 

The females usually used very affec- 
tionate terms in addressing one another, 
something after the following manner : 

‘‘How de, honey?” 

“ Oh, I well, dea.’ Howyo’?” 

“So, so, tank e.” 

Or, “How yo’ feelin dis mo’nin’, lub ? ” 

“Oh, not too well, da’lin’. How yo’ 
feel?” 

“I feel bad, bad. Las’ night I took e 
draff in chapel, and dis mo’nin’ I got e 
bad pain i’ mi lef’ side, ’cross mi ches’ ” 
(across my chest). 

But these endearing terms, like the 


FAREWELL TO DUNMORE. 119 

“brudder” of the men, did not mean 
much, for they sometimes fought pitched 
battles in which sticks of sugar-cane 
were the principal weapons. On such 
occasions the yards or alleys where the 
fight was on were always in a great up- 
roar, the combatants whacking each 
other energetically with their sugar-cane 
rods, shouting and screaming at the 
top of their voices, with all the dogs in 
the neighborhood yelping, howling, and 
barking, added to which were the cries 
of encouragement or cheers from the 
friends of the belligerents, gathered a- 
round. These battles nearly always 
ended in a compromise, the contestants 
retreating to their respective “yards,” 
muttering terrible imprecations and 
casting frequent fiery glances at the re- 
tiring foe. 

They were all extremely fond of sing- 


120 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


ing “antems” (as they called hymns of 
any kind) and their whole ambition 
seemed to be to make as much noise as 
possible, though many of them had real- 
ly fine bass and tenor voices. Once in 
the shipyard, when Mr. Grant raised a 
tune rather high, an old “kia-leada” 
(choir -leader) remarked that it was 
“too strainy.” 

He had to be extremely careful not to 
allow himself to become too familiar 
with them. When he first came to Dun- 
more he used to nod familiarly to every- 
one he met, but he soon learned that 
this would not do at all. Such were 
their peculiar ideas as to what consti- 
tutes a real “gemmen” that he had to 
be very sparing of his salutations and 
and give those he knew only the barest 
nod of recognition and pass the others 
by unnoticed. This made a greeting 


FAREWELL TO DUNMORE. 121 

from the “ minista ’’ greatly appreciated. 
They coveted tokens of recognition 
thus sparingly given, but which, had he 
continued to bestow as liberally as at 
the beginning, they would have very 
slightly valued. Capt. Moseley told him 
that the pure blacks did not expect to 
receive the same kind of treatment, so- 
cially, as white people, and thought less 
of any one who accorded it to them. 

But with all this, numbers of them 
were real Christians, and these Mr. and 
Mrs. Grant recognized as brothers and 
sisters in the Lord. Both church and 
chapel had mixed congregations, but the 
colored portion had a section of the 
building (usually one side) allotted to 
them, and were not allowed to sit a- 
mong the whites. 

So with visiting, strolling, bathing 
and boating, and preachings every 


122 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


Lord’s Day in the shipyard, the time 
passed rapidly by, and at last the day 
arrived for the visitors to leave for their 
northern home. The mail schooner 
“Ideal ’’lay waiting at the pier-head, 
while the trunks and boxes of native 
hats, mats, sponges and sea-shells were 
being put aboard. 

It was a time of real sorrow to Myr- 
tle, for she felt that, under God, she owed 
more to them than she could ever pos- 
sibly forget or hope to repay. It was 
from Mr. Grant that she first heard the 
simple gospel, and all that she knew 
of a really spiritual nature she had 
learned with his help and that of his 
gentle wife. She could hardly keep back 
the tears at the breakfast table, and as 
soon as it was over retired to her cham- 
ber to weep alone. Presently Mrs. Grant 
tapped at the door and told her they 


FAREWELL TO DUNMORE. 123 

were about to start. Seeing tbe child in 
tears, she put her arms about her, and 
kissing her, said tenderly, “Don’t feel 
too bad, dear. I will write you often, 
and you will have your Bible and the 
Holy Spirit as your comforter. We may 
meet again on earth if it be God’s will; 
if not we are sure to meet in heaven 
with our precious Saviour.” After she 
had succeeded in soothing her some- 
what, they started down towards the 
wharf, where they found quite a crowd 
gathered to see them off. Elaine walked 
with them, and she too found it hard 
work to keep back her tears. 

Mr. Grant, as was expected, made 
them a short speech, after which he 
shook hands all round, and then rescu- 
ing his wife from the embraces of the 
weeping school-girls and their mothers, 
they stepped on board the vessel and 


124 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


were off. Handkerchiefs were waved 
until they could only be seen with 
glasses, and when the vessel could no 
longer be seen from the upper veranda 
at Greycliffe, Myrtie and Elaine went 
to the highest hill-top on the island, 
and with Capt. Moseley’s powerful tele- 
scope, watched the schooner until she 
was lost to even the telescope’s search- 
ing eye in the haze of the distant horizon. 
They sat and sobbed together for a full 
half hour and then sadly returned to 
Dunmore. 

How different Greycliffe looked, now 
that the visitors were gone, and Mr. 
Grant’s cheery voice was no longer 
heard about the house and his wife’s 
loving presence no longer felt. But, as 
Mrs. Grant had said, Myrtie had her 
precious Bible, and God’s Holy Spirit 
to guide and comfort her, though she 


FAREWELL TO DUNMORE. 125 

did miss the shipyard preachings, and 
Mrs. Grant’s loving advice and counsel 
so much. 

There is little more to write of Myrtie 
Moseley. She heard from the Grants by 
almost every mail, and was glad to be 
able to write them that she and Blaine 
and most of the others were holding on 
their way, “faint, yet pursuing.” Rich- 
ard turned out badly, and Capt. Moseley 
had to turn him away for gambling. 
Myrtie read IJohnii. 19 and knew by 
that, that the root of the matter had 
never been in him. She read with con- 
fidence and comfort the words of Jesus 
in the tenth of John: “My sheep hear 
My voice, and I know them, and they 
follow Me : and I give unto them eternal 
life ; and they shall never perish, neither 
shall any [man, angel, or devil] pluck 
them out of My hand. My Father, 


126 


MYRTIE MOSELEY. 


which gave them Me, is greater than 
all, and no man is able to pluck them 
out of My Father’s hand. I and My 
Father are one.” 

This, gentle reader, is the story of 
Myrtie Moseley and her Friends. 


ERRATUM, Page 71. 

For “ which was burnt 47 years before Christ ” 
read — “burnt in the year A. D. 641.’’ 










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